Phantasy Star IV... necessary to play the other games first?

Post by **Flak Beard** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 7:35 pm

I've always been interested in the PS series, and tried playing them back in the day. Unfortunately though, things would always turn me off about them. I couldn't get into the first person dungeon crawling of PSI, and the insane difficulty of PSII got to me even though I was enjoying the story. I haven't tried PSIII yet, but so many people say it's horrible, I feel hesitant to try.

Anyway, that leaves PSIV. I picked up the Sega Genesis collection on Playstation 2, and dabbled a bit in it. So far it seems pretty cool, and I think the difficulty will be reasonable enough. Thing is, do I need to play the other games to understand the story? Or can PSIV be enjoyed on it's own?

Also, if anyone here likes PSIII, let me know why. I don't want to ignore it completely just because of all the negativity on the internet. Although, I hear it's just as hard as PSII.

Post by **gradualmeltdown** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 8:14 pm

You must beat at least P.S.2 to really love P.S.4 There are so many loose references to PS2 and a few to PS1 and that is what make PS4 the best of the series to some. You could enjoy PS4 without, but not nearly as much. Its all about the original PS universe coming to a close. PSO is a new story.

Post by **Flak Beard** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 11:52 pm

I'd hate to do it, but maybe I could play through PSII with some codes or something. Like I said, I loved the story of what I played of it so far, but the grinding was just too much.

Anyone know if the PSII on the Sega Genesis Collection has the same difficulty from the original cart?

Post by **Ramatut4001** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 11:04 am

I've been meaning to play II for a while now. Retronauts just did a PS episode a few weeks ago: http://digg.com/podcasts/1UP_com_Retronauts/845386

Post by **Flak Beard** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 7:59 pm

Ramatut4001 wrote:I've been meaning to play II for a while now. Retronauts just did a PS episode a few weeks ago: http://digg.com/podcasts/1UP_com_Retronauts/845386

Yeah, that episode along with the recent Retroforce GO! episode inspired me to try the series again. I found out you can use Game Genie codes in the Fusion emulator, so maybe I'll just go through PSII that way and start PSIV afterwards (legit of course).

Post by **marurun** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:33 am

I played PSIV with knowledge, but not direct experience, of the previous games and I was just fine. There are references to previous games, but you don't need to get them for the game to be a lot of fun. It's a solid RPG that rivals some of the best on the SNES. Enjoy!

Post by **racketboy** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:46 am

Ramatut4001 wrote:I've been meaning to play II for a while now. Retronauts just did a PS episode a few weeks ago: http://digg.com/podcasts/1UP_com_Retronauts/845386

yeah, that one guy (Shane?) was really into it. He gets pretty obsessed with a number of games. But I must admit he usually has good taste

Post by **Ramatut4001** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 12:48 pm

racketboy wrote:
Ramatut4001 wrote:I've been meaning to play II for a while now. Retronauts just did a PS episode a few weeks ago: http://digg.com/podcasts/1UP_com_Retronauts/845386
yeah, that one guy (Shane?) was really into it. He gets pretty obsessed with a number of games. But I must admit he usually has good taste

There's a part where they ask him what game didn't completely change his life and he admits that he always says that but he REALLY likes Phantasy Star. Good stuff. And yes, he does have good taste. I'm glad they've been doing Retronauts more regularly and without that Jenn Frank. She's really annoying. It's too bad because a female opinion would keep the show fresh but she's nigh unlistenable.

Post by **racketboy** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 1:10 pm

Ramatut4001 wrote:
racketboy wrote:
Ramatut4001 wrote:I've been meaning to play II for a while now. Retronauts just did a PS episode a few weeks ago: http://digg.com/podcasts/1UP_com_Retronauts/845386
yeah, that one guy (Shane?) was really into it. He gets pretty obsessed with a number of games. But I must admit he usually has good taste
There's a part where they ask him what game didn't completely change his life and he admits that he always says that but he REALLY likes Phantasy Star. Good stuff. And yes, he does have good taste. I'm glad they've been doing Retronauts more regularly and without that Jenn Frank. She's really annoying. It's too bad because a female opinion would keep the show fresh but she's nigh unlistenable.

I agree, but I remember one episode (can't remember which) where she had a half-way interesting/bizarre story from her childhood.

Post by **Flak Beard** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 3:04 pm

Ramatut4001 wrote:
racketboy wrote:
Ramatut4001 wrote:I've been meaning to play II for a while now. Retronauts just did a PS episode a few weeks ago: http://digg.com/podcasts/1UP_com_Retronauts/845386
yeah, that one guy (Shane?) was really into it. He gets pretty obsessed with a number of games. But I must admit he usually has good taste
There's a part where they ask him what game didn't completely change his life and he admits that he always says that but he REALLY likes Phantasy Star. Good stuff. And yes, he does have good taste. I'm glad they've been doing Retronauts more regularly and without that Jenn Frank. She's really annoying. It's too bad because a female opinion would keep the show fresh but she's nigh unlistenable.

I can't stand it when they bring on Jenn Frank, or even worse, Kathleen Sanders. It's hard for me to stomach any 1up of Ziff Davis podcast these days, because it always seem like you have one smug or idiot journalist in the mix. Retro Force GO! is where I turn to now.

As for Shane, the guy likes a lot of cool games, but I would love nothing more to see him get the ax sometimes. He does a poor job hiding his irrational dislike towards MS and the Xbox 360, all the while grasping for straws when it comes to putting the PS3 in a positive light. Even the other guys on the podcasts have called him out on being a Sony fanboy.